If the Missouri Legislature had decided to expand the state's Medicaid program according to President Obama's Affordable Care Act during the 2013 legislative session, health coverage would have grown in 2014 to cover as many as 300,000 Missourians in the next three years.
But some Missourians may be left without coverage because lawmakers decided against the Medicaid expansion.
Some of those 300,000 Missourians will qualify for coverage under a federally funded state exchange beginning Jan. 1, 2014, with open enrollment beginning Oct. 1
Some Missourians will not qualify.
An Associated Press analysis of figures from the Urban Institute finds that two of three of those who would have qualified under expansion will still be without health insurance, even with the federally funded state exchange.
While Missouri legislators ruled out Medicaid expansion for 2014, expansion or some form of transformation of the program is not entirely out of the question for 2015.
The Missouri House of Representatives has formed two interim committees and the Senate one interim committee to analyze possibilities for the state's Medicaid program. Also, a bill not yet signed by Gov. Jay Nixon would create an interim Medicaid committee of Senate and House members.